Airborne 08.18.17

Scheduled For Saturday Liftoff

After its initial launch
failed seconds after liftoff last
year, Connecticut-based UP Aerospace tells ANN it is
geared up for a second try this weekend. The mission, named "SL-2",
will fly a wide range of educational experiments and commercial
payloads into space.

Examples of educational experiments on SL-2:

The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology and the National
Aerospace Leadership Initiative have teamed with UP Aerospace as
education partners on the LaunchQuest (tm) Program which provides
middle and high school students the opportunity to send their own
research experiments into space. 800 students from teams around the
country and the world, including Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the
Netherlands, have developed and designed 44 scientific experiments
for the SL-2 mission.

NASA's Colorado Space Grant and the University of Colorado at
Boulder will be flying a proof-of-concept "RocketSat" payload that
includes several experiments including a GPS receiver and a video
camera.

Epsori Space Systems will be flying an assortment of vegetable
seeds, and plans to distribute them with science curriculum to
classrooms this fall.

Examples of commercial payloads on SL-2:

Celestis, Inc. selected UP Aerospace as the launch services
provider for the Celestis Legacy Memorial Spaceflight Mission. The
cremated remains of Star Trek's "Scotty" James Doohan and NASA
astronaut and pioneer Gordon Cooper will be on SL-2, as well as the
cremated remains of more than 200 other people from all walks of
life.

Microgravity Enterprises, Inc. (MEI) will be flying a unique
payload, details of which will be unveiled after the launch. MEI
has entered an agreement with UP Aerospace to purchase 18 flights
over the next four years.

Astrata/RocketFoto is a start-up enterprise that sends personal
photos on round-trip space missions for its customers.

A more complete roster of educational and commercial entities on
SL-2, with additional payload details, can be seen at the FMI link
below.

UP Aerospace's flagship vehicle, the SpaceLoft XL, can launch up
to 110 pounds of scientific, educational, and entrepreneurial
payloads into space, with an altitude capability of up to 140 miles
(225 kilometers). The company conducts its space launches from New
Mexico's Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built
commercial spaceport.